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"Maybe. The man there should have been back two days ago for supplies."
Emma had realized before now that Luke was a man of few words. The explanation was concise, but Emma inferred that he was going to make sure the man was all right.
"Be careful." As Emma said the words, she felt color searing over her cheekbones as embarrassment crept through her. How would he react to the small words of concern that she hadn't been able to control before they spilled from her mouth?
She had her answer when he changed direction, walked to her and lifted her chin. "Do you care?"
She licked her lips and her eyes dropped from his.
His thumb left her chin and smoothed over her bottom lip. A rush of hot heat flooded her at the intimate touch.
"I'll be careful, Emma," he said in a deep, controlled voice. His thumb continued to move back and forth across her lip. "Maria will be here to bring you your meals and make sure you're all right, but she's going to be busy until Red gets on his feet again. I'm not going to be here to watch you, and Maria's not going to be around to babysit." His words were mild but she knew his meaning was not. "You're going to have to use the brain in that pretty little head of yours and stay in the house." Another swipe of the thumb. "Think you can do that?"
Emma was annoyed at the subtle tone of sarcasm in his voice. "I might."
Lightning speared through her as he dropped his hand to her shoulder and pulled her forward, his forehead dropping to hers and his breath mingling with the oxygen she suddenly found hard to drag in. "I hope you can, because I sorely want to come home and find you in one piece." His lips dropped to hers and brushed softly against hers, just once. "I want you to be alive when I get back, Emma-girl."
He trailed his long index finger up and down the side of her face and she felt a trickle of desire like warm honey slide through her.
His lips fell to hers again, this time firm and hard as they pressed against hers. His hands tightened on her shoulders, and Emma swayed more fully toward his torso and thought he was about to take her mouth with his tongue when he suddenly stiffened and pushed her away from him.
He steadied her before he let go completely, and then he turned and walked to her door. "Stay in the house," he barked.
Once again, the door shut behind him.
****
Emma wandered around the house for a day and a half looking for something to do until she found a box of worn clothing and during one of Maria's short visits to the house, asked her about it.
The clothing as it turned out, was Luke's, and was in need of mending. Emma offered to do it, and Maria was agreeable because she didn't have the time.
But now, sitting for hours in the quiet of the house, alone with her thoughts and only the intimate act of repairing Luke's clothing, her mind was once again taking a dangerous turn. As she sewed missing buttons back on and repaired minor tears in the fabric of his shirts, she thought about what it would feel like it she truly had the right to be in charge of the care of his apparel. It was a domestic duty, a wifely duty in fact, and her mind played all kind of tricks on her as she imagined if the house were her own, if Luke was her husband and it was her job to take care of him, and his home.
As the pile of clothing that she had repaired grew, dusk began to fall and just as she was wondering if he wouldn't make it home again that night, she heard the back door slam.
She heard the shuffle of his large feet, and then he was standing in front of her chair, looking down at her.
"You're back," she said simply.
"Yep." His eyes were brilliant as he took in the piles of his clothing all around her.
"Is everything all right?" Her eyes ran up and down his form, unconsciously looking for a mark or something out of place. She didn't see anything to indicate he was hurt in any way.
"Yeah. Buck's horse went down in the stream. Had to be put down. Cody'll go back tomorrow and take him another." He rumbled the words out in a deep, even voice.
"Oh, how sad."
"Yeah," he agreed shortly. "Guess you found something to keep your mind occupied."
She rolled her eyes at the tone in his voice. "Yes, sir, I did," she replied saucily and she knew he didn't want to linger over the subject of the lost horse.
"I'm starving. Come keep me company while I eat."
Pleasure raced down her spine as he turned back toward the kitchen, fully expecting her to do as he asked. She had no intention of refusing him.
She followed him into the kitchen and sat down and watched as he devoured the plate of food Maria had left out for him. He watched her as he ate, and a ribbon of curiosity slid down her spine. What would it be like if he were truly hers? How would his touch feel if they shared the same bed? She knew the bare basics of reproduction, knew it took a man's seed and a woman's egg blended together to make a baby.
But the only experience she had with desire or arousal she had learned from him.
"What are you thinking about so seriously?" He downed the glass of water after he took his last bite and studied her across from him.
Emma knew her face was crimson and her blood pounded. "Nothing." It was absolutely the only answer she could give.
Luke watched her with a scrutiny he couldn't hide. The girl was embarrassed and that had him wondering what she'd been thinking about to put that look on her face. He would take it slow, but he aimed to find out.
"How 'bout a game?" he drawled.
Her eyes flew to his. "A game?" Her voice was tentative.
His eyes narrowed even more and he felt the throbbing arousal that never much left him when in her presence. "Yeah. Checkers, cards, something like that."
"Yes, all right," she readily agreed.
He stood up, opened a drawer, pulled out a deck of cards and on his way back,
detoured to the back door with sure movements and slid the bolt home.
The lock made a solid click and hammered through the room.
He walked back to the table and saw her visibly swallow as she stared past him to the closed and locked door.
He ignored the look on her face, pulled his chair closer to her and sat down, as he dropped the deck of cards between them. He crossed his arms and leaned them on the table, quietly invading the space in front of her. "What do you want to play?"
"I don't--I don't know," her voice came out in a small voice, her mind evidently still on the bolted door.
"How about poker?" he asked her.
"Poker!" The word had a bit more of a bite as the idea of playing poker was no doubt shocking to her.
"Well, you got to choose last time, didn't you?" His words were casual.
"Yes, I suppose so."
"And I don't know any other card games, anyway. So poker's it." He took the cards from the table.
"But poker is all about gambling, isn't it?" she questioned him with a frown.
"Yeah."
"But gambling's wrong."
"Wrong from where you come from?" His eyes looked from the cards in his hands up to her face.
"Wrong anywhere, I think," she answered, her voice full of sass.
"Well, we're not gonna gamble for money, so the issue of right and wrong doesn't apply."
"That's good to know because if you think I'd be silly enough to gamble for money with a man that won his ranch in a poker game, you'd be mistaken." Her arms crossed over her chest and she lifted her chin and sent a glare in his direction.
"That's right smart of you, Emma," he admitted with a smile.
"What will we wager?" she asked him.
"Kisses." He shuffled the cards as if he hadn't said that.
"Kisses!" She sounded appalled.
"Yeah, kisses."
Emma was shaking her head in a negative fashion. "No, sir, not kisses. Think of something else."
"Clothes?" he fired back.
Emma looked confused as she studied him. "Why would you want my clothes?"
Luke could see her mind working as she tried to work out the equation for why he would want feminine attire. He was close enough to see her expression change when she figured out what he meant. Her face went white first, and then an adorable, fiery blush covered her cheekbones. Her mouth formed an 'oh' of shock, and then closed with a snap of her lips.
